Just fully completed Grisaia no Kajitsu, and thought I'd swing by to recommend it. It's right up at the top of my list with Little Busters and Katawa Shoujo in terms of emotional impact. Both the comedic common route and the dramatic character routes are written superbly. The H-scenes aren't done as well as I'd like (as opposed to, for example, KS's mostly tasteful scenes), but all in all, it's definitely one of the best VNs I've played.

Just uh, be prepared to see the word 'fundamental' and variations thereof a nauseating number of times. Looks like the translator has a strong affinity for that particular word. I don't think I saw 'basic' even once, even when it would have been the better word to use. But hey, if the biggest complaint I can muster is linguistic nitpicking, it has to be a good game, right?

Where would I go to buy/play Visual novels? I want the Clannad and Fate/night one as well as where I could expect to find the Oreimo one, and I am willing to take any suggestions on other Novels worth playing.

Well Katawa Shoujo was what I started with and I loved it, I also enjoy anything Key related like Clannad full voice, Little Busters, and Rewrite most of those have some major feels in them though. I would also recommend Chaos;Head if you want to read a horror mystery one, and for some with gameplay in them either aselia the eternal, or yumina the ethereal.

1) It doesn't use any supernatural elements to drive the plot.
2) The problems and solutions make a lot of sense and no cheap-scape "deus ex machina" was utilized throughout the whole experience
3) While the other routes are okay at best, the core plot and main route is VERY memorable and will keep you at your edge even after the credits.
4) Villian is voiced by Jun-Fukuyama in which IMHO, he did better job for his character here than he did for Lelouch (Code Geass)
5) The soundtrack is killer, it fits all the situations quite well. (they are all remixes to classical music)

Alright, so i have been looking for the past hour and a half for a Zombie themed Visual Novel, but for some odd reason I can't find anything even close to that. Why in the world at this point would there be no Visual Novels about something like this? You would think that after High School of The Dead that someone would make one, or even before that, but it seems not. Why the ^&%* would they not make a Visual Novel about something like this? Does this mean that there is never going to be anything like this? If you know of anything like this, then please post it on here.

Since I think most of the great VNs have already been recommended, I'll go ahead recommend an obscure one called Fiction Quiz. It's just a game that helps determine a person's strengths and weaknesses when it comes to writing a fiction novel.

Also, not sure if this was mentioned already, but a lot of the newer VN games that get released, too, can be found on the Lemmasoft forums Completed Games sub-forum. What's great about it too is u can discuss the games with the creators there! XD

Alright, so i have been looking for the past hour and a half for a Zombie themed Visual Novel, but for some odd reason I can't find anything even close to that. Why in the world at this point would there be no Visual Novels about something like this? You would think that after High School of The Dead that someone would make one, or even before that, but it seems not. Why the ^&%* would they not make a Visual Novel about something like this? Does this mean that there is never going to be anything like this? If you know of anything like this, then please post it on here.

The Kansen series of games is sort of zombie themed, but they're more rape-zombies than the usual flesh-eating type, but the essentials of a zombie are still there. The games are considered good, if fairly dark.[links remove by mod due to images not appropriate for CR --lorreen]
(the description of the second game at vndb makes the zombie theme more evident than the first game's)
Also very much 18+ and it has no official western release or translation, and no fan translation afaik.

kardoniuswrote: The Kansen series of games is sort of zombie themed, but they're more rape-zombies than the usual flesh-eating type.

Rape-zombies?!? Wow... just when I thought I've heard of everything, lol. Hmm, also, are we allowed to recommend that kind of game on this site? It sounds kinda like a H-game. I'll ask a mod just in case, and try to get him or her to post here about it.

Where would I go to buy/play Visual novels? I want the Clannad and Fate/night one as well as where I could expect to find the Oreimo one, and I am willing to take any suggestions on other Novels worth playing.

You can buy the Jp versions from a few places
Jlist/Jbox has some, including Clannad for sale[link removed --lorreen] (18+ website)
http://www.jbox.com (All ages website)

Also, for console games such as the Oreimo VN: PlayAsia is a good source
http://www.play-asia.com/

In addition [company name removed--since site is 18+ --lorreen] has some excellent ones officially licensed and translated available. They have licensed and are translating Steins;Gate right now, and it's up for preorder [links removed --lorreen]

Mangagamer is another company that licenses and sells VNs. Including Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (Which has also just gotten in on Steam Greenlight not too long ago)
http://www.mangagamer.com/

Some times games are also available from shops like RightStuf, and HenDaNe's webshop as well.
http://www.rightstuf.com/rssite/main/ (Note Visual novel sale on right now, ends in about 2 days, 35% off most titles)http://www.rightstuf.com/rssite/main/news/individual/?ForumThreadName=FT0000005791&ReturnTo=Main
On this sale, some I would recommend to anyone are:

Aselia the Eternal (All ages)Steins;Gate (This is a preorder, but it shouldn't need much introduction given the anime's success, all ages)

[Sorry folks, list of 18+ titles deleted --lorreen]

For the most part, for Japanese games you will need to either use amazon.co.jp and a shipping deputy service like Tenso or other services. This is also often going to be cheaper unless you can find what you're looking for on sites like Jlist, RightStuf or the like.
http://www.amazon.co.jp
http://www.amazon.co.jp/In-English/b/ref=topnav_switchLang/378-5114164-6037507?ie=UTF8&node=1094656
http://www.tenso.com/en/

AmiAmi also sells some VNs as well
http://www.amiami.com/

For digital copies of games, DLSite has an English language site (Games are still in Japanese though), and you can also use the Japanese DLsite with a US credit card, and they have a pro section where bigger developers release games as well.
http://www.dlsite.com/eng (This is the all-ages version of the English site)

I've used Paletweb in the past with no trouble, but they have strict rules regarding payment and it's not quite as user friendly as others, but they may have things you can't find elsewhere, particularly if you don't want to use a deputy service. It's also good for physical editions of doujin games like Touhou games.
http://www.paletweb.com/top.asp

kardoniuswrote: The Kansen series of games is sort of zombie themed, but they're more rape-zombies than the usual flesh-eating type.

Rape-zombies?!? Wow... just when I thought I've heard of everything, lol. Hmm, also, are we allowed to recommend that kind of game on this site? It sounds kinda like a H-game. I'll ask a mod just in case, and try to get him or her to post here about it.

I have no idea if we can recommend 18+ games, but then most visual novels are 18+ / eroge, including many, or most, of the really well known ones.

If 18+is out most of the games recommended would end up out too, but yeah Kansen is certainly more straight forwardly an eroge than others, it does fit what he's asking for though.

Hey everyone, it's great to see this thread getting some renewed activity. So, I'm going to take this opportunity to remind you to keep the site rules in mind when posting here:

Most relevant:
- Only request/recommend material that is legally available
- Refrain from sexually explicit discussion and use of inappropriate images
- Do not link to sites that prominently feature/sell 18+ content

Read Planetarian today, highly recommend that one. Little Busters and Rewrite were excellent as well. They all hit you right in the feels, with lots of laughs too. Note that Rewrite and Little Busters are very long VNs, both can easily take 50+ hours to complete (Rewrite took me around 70-80 hours)!

Currently working on a bunch of stuff not by Key, will comment on them whenever I finish.